Black Christmas
I asked for a refund in store and I was advised to contact head office, who you can’t speak to. I wrote to them and I emailed them with my details and a copy of my receipt, I received a phone call on Friday advising me to contact the Blockbuster store for a refund as head office won’t process it, I contacted the store and they also advised they won’t be giving me a refund as it is head office so it looks like I have lost my £220 that I have paid them so far.I advised as I have a baby due in 10 weeks I want the money back for essential items for the baby but they had no compassion and basically told me tough.Thought I would let you know of this outcome because it is disgusting that they took my cash last Saturday when they would have known they could never give me my console.Liam

Busted
I pre-ordered my PlayStation 4 from Blockbuster and am still waiting for my £350 back. I have done what they ask and emailed as well as posted all the info they want and still nothing, even the stores are in the dark as to how we are getting are money back.

Asked in-store today if they had heard anything and was told that they had a conference call the other day and a staff member asked why they can’t just credit people’s bank debit cards or credit cards and give them the money that’s on their accounts and was told there not to do that or give customers cash either. So god knows how there going to pay us back, maybe you could find out and let us all know.mark280270

GC: We are trying to investigate, meanwhile the official policy is still meant to be to deal with the main office and not individual stores.

No rush
I was interested in upgrading to the PlayStation 4 this Christmas and we have a scheme running in our workplace that would allow me to buy one for monthly installments out of my wages, totaling the price of £292, not bad. However, I have been looking at it and i have come to the conclusion, is it even worth getting one? If you can’t play PlayStation 3 downloaded titles, which is something they are pushing this generation, you can’t play disk copies either which I expected.

Plus, the fact that there aren’t any games coming out for it that would make you want to buy (all cross format) has stopped me adopting early this time round. If there was one or two titles that were exclusive to this generation, although probably average, it would have encouraged me to get one, but as i have FIFA on my PlayStation 3, plus Assassin’s Creed, Battlefield 4, Call Of Duty (not a fan) all accessible, and Watch Dogs also, I think I will wait a little bit and buy one when I can enjoy the benefit of it, not just a black brick next to my usable predecessor.Sacred_Innocence (PS ID)

Best night ever
I had the best night of gaming with mates ever tonight on Battlefield 4, with regular GCers Crazy Crusha, Zombie Kicker, daibromin, Devilred79, and two of my mates from Glasgow whom I met via GTA Online and I’ve told them about GC gave them links, email for the Inbox, etc.

All of us on mics playing together and having a right laugh. If anyone on PlayStation 3 wants to join in gimme a message on PSN. Mics better but all are welcome as always. Best fun I’ve ever had in a game.

We’ve all got GTA V too guys, so with this many it could be brilliant playing that again together later when we want a break from Battlefield 4. Look out for my Big Angry review of Battlefield 4 in the Reader’s Features if GC are kind enough to print it or regular Inbox though it’s fairly lengthy.FF13ACE (PSN ID)

GC: We’ll try and make sure it goes up this weekend.

Past and future
Naughty Dog should do a story of Drake’s mentors; Sir Francis Drake (could you imagine the creativity for an story 600 years ago in an Uncharted way) or a story of Sully when he was younger called Uncharted: The Silver Fox. Or as in looonng shot Uncharted: Whispers Of Tomorrow; where we see an old retired Drake comes back out of action when his grandson is kidnapped by an industrialists looking for the fountain of youth thought to be destroyed by Ponce De Leon and forces Drake to find it. And Drake teams up with his sightseeing granddaughter who strikes an Eliane (who dies years past and which is why Drake retired).demetric4

Brooker’s bake off
Cynical? Moi? No, just realistic. I’m well aware of Charlie Brooker’s pedigree where gaming is concerned and I’ve no doubt that, if he is allowed to make the programme he would like to make, it will be well informed and a tribute to the great hobby we enjoy so much.

The ‘proof of the pudding will be in the eating’, however and I hope I will be the one doing the eating. In this instance, ‘humble pie’.Gill C.
PS: You know that song Video Killed the Radio Star, well I think zombies killed the survival horror game. We’ve been zombied to death.

Black and white
To reply to your question to me in Fridays evening Inbox: it wasn’t just the blue light on the back of the controller it was your review of it too. I have never owned a PlayStation and Microsoft just put me off the Xbox One at that time. So I was up for getting a PlayStation 4, your review put me off it, same as the PlayStation 3 controller basically. The blue light was the straw that broke the camels back.

My two hobbies in life are gaming and football and I’m a Liverpool fan and I just can’t be having a blue light. I take your reviews seriously, like two weeks ago I bought Sonic: Lost World and I didn’t open it until your review. Once I read it I sent it straight back to ShopTo.
You didn’t answer my question though: has the free FIFA 14 promotion ended because I couldn’t find it when I got my pre-order?woz 007 (gamertag)

GC: That’s not really what we said about the PlayStation 4 controller. We said it was improved from the PlayStation 3, but still not quite as good as the Xbox 360. The FIFA 14 promotion was a ‘while stocks last’ deal, so if there are none left now that’s it we’re afraid. Although Microsoft implied at the time they’d be doing similar bundles with other games.

Wannabe gangsters
I’d like to start by saying I have played video games for close to 30 years. I consider myself a casual gamer now because of the time I’m allotted. This being said I try to stay up with the current games and will continue to play into the new systems…

I have all systems: PC, Xbox, PlayStation 3, and Wii. I mainly play on the hi-def enabled systems for the graphics and sound effects. I enjoy taking it all in and being able to benefit from what I look at as an interactive experience. I own GTA V, play it casually, and have fun with the experience.

This being said, my daughter, who when her time comes, will be a gamer, would not be able to touch a game like that (until mature). Only reason being is because it glorifies what so many kids these days take for granted: violence, sex, and language. To the extreme. I did not have the rating system until I was old enough to play everything, so I grew up with whatever I wanted game-wise.

I don’t feel with this MTV world we are living in that young adults separate the living from the interactive realities. Prime example was the midnight release of GTA V. I was surrounded by other gamers waiting for their copy, as was I. The difference was hearing them talk. As if they were gangsters in real life. Tough as the movies or TV portrays, yet they are the same as myself. Nerds.

I believe in guidance in games such as these, as should the producers on the soul reason that young adults, teens or whatever incorporate this lifestyle in their own. My hat goes off to the people that continue to make blockbuster, budget-busting games such as these. It takes man power and talent. I just believe the right to play these pieces of hard work should be supervised by responsible parents that maybe also game, or at least take an interest in what the population is playing.john hunter

Inbox also-rans
Has anyone noticed that the buzz about the Xbox One has got more positive the less interviews its execs have given. Maybe if they lock Phil Harrison in a cupboard and throw away the key they could win this thing.Paulie

If GTA Online’s little bits of downloadable content are taking this long I guess the story one must be miles out. I’m still hoping for Alien Nightmare though.Denba

This week’s Hot Topic
The talking point for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Jonny H, who asks whether you ever feel embarrassed to admit or talk about gaming with your friends and family?

Do you find work colleagues scoffing in disgust when you tell them how much time you spend playing games? Does your family think you’re getting too old for gaming? When, if at all, do you mention playing games to the opposite sex and has being a gamer ever caused any problems with a new friend – or with a partner or spouse?

In general, do you find there is still a social stigma attached to playing games, or has the introduction of casual gaming reduced the levels of embarrassment in recent years? Do you think gaming will ever be truly sociably acceptable and do you care either way?